Adventures In The Far Reaches

Chapter 10

THE DOOR WAS unlocked, though the rust has made opening it quite a struggle for the two men. A surge of cold air, smelling like rotten meat for some reason, blasted through me as a dark hall was revealed inside. Large mice and all sorts of crickets ran out the door when we made our first steps. The loud echo produced by even our smallest movements and quietest whispers made it seem that the facility was incredibly big. Not a single bar of signal registered on the satellite phone. I reached for my Handycam underneath my dress, and caressed every single corner of it until I found the ON button. The stumble left a huge crack on the viewfinder, but the camera operated fine nonetheless. When I turned on the lights on it, particles of dust swirled and floated in the beam like snow inside a snow globe when shaken. The darkness ate the light wherever I pointed the camera on. Chris' eyes looked alien on the camera.

"Hold on, I'll get the lights," Omar said. After flicking a few switches, the enormousness of the compound came into full view. The complex was at least a football field wide and three football fields long, already a feat of engineering in itself. All sorts of metal structures and drums and frames were scattered all over the place, with broken tents and small metal cylinders thrown around and meshes of wire hanging on the metal frames like cobwebs. It felt like an alternate dimension down here compared to the Stone Age world above. Three rows of spotlights provided only a dim orange illumination, a couple was blinking on and off like a perfect prop for a horror movie. The ceiling, covered with what looked like sleeping swarms of bats, looked uncomfortably weak to support the earth above. It was apparent that this place has been around for a long time, so it would be no surprise that hundreds of bombs must've been made here, and hundreds of bombs must've been already smuggled out of here, ready to be detonated anytime now.

"Hey, should we be wearing masks for the radiation?" I said. "We might turn to worms or something." I merely whispered but the echoes made it seem I just shouted for dear life.

"Don't worry about the radiation," Omar said. "The uranium rods are kept in thick concrete containers so only a few could get out. Besides, radiation cannot change your body into something else. They can only destroy it."

Omar's calm tone has returned, which I assumed to be a sign that he has let go of everything that I said to him earlier. So I proceeded with the inquisition. "How long do you think this has been around?"

"I think this is one of the oldest nuclear sites Iran, built maybe back in the 80s. Judging from the size, this must be one of the main warehouses too."

"Jesus, what the hell is that smell?" Chris said. The nose-burning pungent smell seemed to emanate from deep in the facility. Even with thick coverings, the stench still made it through my smell receptors. It was disorienting. "Is that from the uranium?"

"I have no idea. Come, we need to get out of here soon."

"Listen, Omar," I said. "I'm so sorry for what I said. I hope you can forgive me. I'm just so fucked up with... everything. Sometimes, I don't know what's wrong with me."

"I understand, and I'm sorry too for what I told you earlier, and for everything you two have been through," he said. "But please, that launch code is extremely important. I believe that is the only copy that exists. We can't let it fall on the wrong hands."

"I know. It's safe with me."

Every step we made echoed all over the compound, even the squeaks and squeals of mice and bats and other nocturnal creatures that have made this weapons factory their habitat. The floor was dusty as hell, and our steps produced a micro sandstorm that further populated the air with potentially radioactive particulates. Pipes of varying size crawled from every corner of the room. Occasionally, rats and spiders as large as my arm would crawl over my feet and make me squeal like a little pussy, which would then disturb a swarm of bats hanging at the ceiling. The large metal drums and support beams bore all sorts of Farsi letters, but one thing made it clear – the small circle with three triangles emerging from it, all inside a larger yellow triangle. It's nuclear, radioactive.